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After weighing the importance of lost sleep versus abducted children, Ohio Amber Alert officials
are siding with finding kids who are in danger.

Amber Alerts about abducted children will be sent to enabled cellphones at any hour of the day
or night, they announced yesterday.

State officials stopped sending alerts to Wireless Emergency Alert-enabled phones between
midnight and 6 a.m. after the loud tone of a 6:30 a.m. alert on March 12 led some Ohioans to
complain about being awakened.

The Ohio Amber Alert Steering Committee met on Wednesday and unanimously decided to send the
alerts to cellphones as soon as they are issued.

“The urgency in finding an abducted child outweighed any potential inconvenience the alert might
cause,” said a statement from the committee.

“Criminals abduct children 24 hours a day, so the alert should go out 24 hours a day,” said
Linda Maloy, a committee member from Bucyrus whose daughter survived being abducted, raped and
shot.

Some states don’t issue Amber Alerts during hours when most people are not on the road to help
look for suspects’ vehicles and missing children, state officials said previously.

Phones that are part of the Wireless Emergency Alert program receive the notifications
automatically. Other phones can be set to receive the text alerts, which are limited to 90
characters and don’t include photos or Web links.

Phones can receive messages about abductions and extreme-weather emergencies as part of a
program involving national cellphone carriers.

Cellphone users can opt out of the messages by changing the settings on their phone, or by
contacting their carriers if they are automatically enrolled. People also can turn off their phones
or not sleep with them nearby.

Law-enforcement officials urge Ohio cellphone users not to disable the alerts so they can help
locate missing and abducted children.